Release Date: 20/06/2017
Played On: Win
Available On: PS4 / Win
Time Played: 5h 5m
Progress: Completed Arcade Mode + Some Extra Runs (still going)
Developer: Housemarque
Publisher: Housemarque
In the last few years I've been increasingly turned on to the whole re-imagined 1980s style that's brought on some interesting interpretations of alt-retro-isms. I don't know if it's been around the whole time, but all the amazing synthwave music and neon-fueled art has become some of my favourite retro-media these days.
The cool thing is that all this re-imagining means that those memories of the past are invoked, but ultimately improved upon. I grew up in the 80s and I know first-hand that most of the music and entertainment media around was a far cry from what people are making today. Sure there were synthesizers everywhere you listened, but they all sounded the same in the 80s and none of it had the polish and production found today… and that's fine by me.
Visually we didn't have the same fidelity in the 80s, not to mention the clarity of a colour palette that could support such vibrant explosions of neon brilliance. Just watch an old sci-fi film and remember how everything looked like it was shot in a room full of smoke. To be honest, it probably was, but it made everything look washed out and muted. Now we can capture ultra-crisp high resolution images and video that maintains all that saturated colour with great fidelity. Perhaps in the future we'll look back on the early 2000s and wonder how we ever though it was good, but right now I'm loving the modern technology interpretation of 80s contrast.
For me it was all about contrast in all things; visuals, fashion, music, colour, and life in general. Loud colour palettes and big hair set to the soundtrack of digital musicians learning how to walk. Nobody had any clue about how random the future would be, so everything was possible. These days the digital space is less wondrous in a lot of ways, as we're well aware of its limitations and we're not all riding hover boards after all.
The retro future of old science fiction concepts is always fascinating to me, as there are fantastical ideas conceived within the spectrum of contemporary knowledge. The sci-fi of the 50s was drastically different to that of the 80s, not to mention our own imaginations today. So all the synthwave and neon design found in contemporary retro concepts are like futuristic adaptations of past fictions.
Housemarque are no strangers to the style, and have leaned heavily on an 80s sci-fi aesthetic for Nex Machina, which ticks all the boxes. I've been aware of Housemarque for a while, as they've made some cool shooters like Super Stardust and Resogun. We may end up talking about their other games someday, as I've also been playing through Alienation on PS4.
Without going on too much of a tangent, it's important to remember that these developers are no strangers to shooters and twin-sticks, as they've been making them on consoles for a long time now. I think I have a Housemarque shooter installed on every system I own, which should say something about the quality of their titles. Now they have Nex Machina on PC, which is a welcome change from the PSN-only method they've been using recently. Now I get to play a polished twin-stick shooter at high resolution with high definition audio, which was always missing from the console experience.
If I had to compare Nex Machina to their previous games, it's essentially a mix between Resogun and Alienation. The graphics are very much in the Resogun wheel house, as everything explodes into lots of tiny parts, and the levels are populated by weird semi-robotic aliens trying to kill you. There's even a save-the-humans mechanic carried over into each stage, giving you bonuses for rescuing scientists before they are captured by aliens.
The Alienation connection comes in largely through the perspective as a fixed top-down shooter, rather than the horizontal plane of Resogun. The levels can also be sprawling at times, with hidden beacons to find and destroy for more score, and even hidden paths and secrets scattered throughout each world. There's also power ups and different weapons to collect, not to mention special enemies to build multipliers and score as you go.
There are a handful of worlds, made up of a bunch of levels, culminating in a boss fight at the end of each path. The bosses are creative and ramp up the difficulty significantly as you progress, deploying all the tricks you've seen regular enemies use, only with more frequency and less forgiveness. Some of the later bosses can be a real devilish pain in the butt, and I haven't even seen the overall final boss, as it's hidden behind a difficulty layer that I haven't been able to beat yet.
The arcade mode is broken up by difficulty layers, with each applying a different set of modifiers to the game. On higher levels you get fewer respawn credits (continues), the enemies move faster, and take a bit more damage. However, the real kicker is that you can only get so far on the easiest difficulty, as it gates the harder bosses to the harder difficulties. It's kind of a double edge sword, as I'd like to be able to see all the content in the game by playing through on easy mode, but it's kind of nice to have that incentive for the harder modes.
I've been a bit of a broken record on YouTube lately about the concept of enjoying a game, even when you're terrible at it. Essentially, I'm not that great when it comes to gaming skill, but I enjoy just about anything you throw my way, so I figure my enjoyment isn't tied to winning or losing. However, the most frustrating counter argument to that notion is when I'm loving every minute of something like Nex Machina, but I eventually find that I'll probably never see everything the game has on offer because I'm not skilled enough to get to the end. It's the reason I think everything should have an easy mode, so that everyone can have a chance, but that's a discussion for another time. Ultimately I'd love to be able to talk about the final boss, as the penultimate boss blows my mind, even though I've never beaten them.
With all that in mind, the presentation of Nex Machina continues to carry it through as an enjoyable game to jump in and out of. There's a great synthwave soundtrack that keeps everything moving, but the real pleasure comes from the visuals. Sure there's a lot of Resogun influence, but that's not a bad thing. When enemies and structures explode into a million little bits and pieces, it's always satisfying and the pop of the sound effects really helps make the player feedback visceral.
Additionally, I've never been so happy to lose a life in other games, as the final hit in Nex Machina results in an explosion of neon pink lasers that fill the stage and bounce around the screen. It's a nice payoff to something so frustrating as you only have a single hit point, unless you manage to find a shield that grants you one more. Sometimes the screen can be filled with aliens running you down and the tension builds to fever pitch, until you're done for and everything explodes into neon ribbons of joy.
Except, it's also a little annoying as it's hard to keep track of the player character as the levels fill up with glowing bullets and lasers and aliens. In fact, I found that I often had to pause for a slight moment to find where I was on a stage, before being able to progress. It's kind of annoying when some areas and bosses require precision dodging and movement to avoid the swarm of enemies and bullet hell patterns. However, it's a minor gripe that probably speaks more to my own skill level than anything else.
The controls are tight and responsive, without any movement lag or aiming slow down with the main weapons. Some secondary weapons slow you down as you aim, but that's kind of expected these days in twin-stick shooters, so it's not a negative. The mechanic that really throws me sideways is that your dash move has an oddly times cool down. Like with other titles, you can execute a short dash to give yourself some i-frames and get out of harm's way, or move through obstacles. Except in Nex Machina, there's a few seconds after each dash where you need to wait for it to recharge. It's okay in principle, but as I play through the game, I continuously run into situations where I try to dash during the cooldown and end up killing myself in the process. I don't think it's the cooldown that's a problem, but like the tiny player character on screen, the dash could be communicated a little better to the player. There's a tiny reticule that fills between dashes, but I'd rather have an audio cue or noticeable colour change to indicate when a dash is ready. Simply because I find I'm often looking elsewhere on the screen as I think about where I need to be and how to get there.
Most of that can be forgiven though, as Nex Machina keeps being a fun time, even if it's largely down to the excellent presentation. Everything is designed with purpose and I never feel like the game is leaning on its retro inspirations too hard. Even though I'm loving the neo-80s style at the moment, there are many examples of lazy or bad interpretations, but thankfully Nex Machina isn't one. It's a tight twin-stick dripping in style, which makes every failure an enjoyable time as you get to start it all over again and soak up the sights and sounds once again.
If Housemarque continue making shooters with polish and care, then I'll keep on playing them. I'll even chalk them down as a top tier twin-stick developer, which is one of my favourite genres of gaming in general, so I'm pretty sure we'll have a good time together.